There’s a point when every business goes from DIAY (Do It ALL Yourself) to Do What You Do Best and Get Help for the Rest of It (let’s not bother with the acronym for that one). This is actually a great thing. It means your business is growing and it’s working. But it can also be a scary thing for many business owners because it means you’ll have to trust others to help you keep the momentum going.

Oftentimes clients who’ve done their own writing for their website and marketing materials don’t know what to expect when they hand the job over to someone new. But I find they’re always pleasantly surprised not just by the finished product, but the entire process of working with a copywriter. Here are a few reasons why.

1. It all starts with you and your needs–A writer, like any other artist, has a vision for their work. But as a copywriter, I’m not writing for me. I’m writing for my clients. I’m bringing out their voice and speaking to their audience. Before I write anything for a project I take the time to talk to the client and get to know their company, their audience, and what message they’re trying to get across. The writing should never lose focus of these factors.

2. The client is still in control–Maybe you’ve gotten used to being the one in the driver’s seat, but wouldn’t it be nice to just tell someone where you want to go while relaxing in the passenger’s seat? When I work with a client, the direction I take is always determined by their needs. What’s the end goal for the copy? That’s where I’m headed. But the beauty of hiring someone else to get you there is that I might know some different routes. I might take a whole new approach to selling your product that’s fresh, invigorating, and more importantly, speaks to your audience.

3. Nothing is set in stone–If the first draft I send you just completely misses the mark, (which, to be honest, has never happened) that’s what revisions are for. I always include revisions in my fee because the most important part of the writing process is the shaping, and the molding, and the tweaking to get it just right. The client should have input because they’re the ones who need to be happy with the end result. Of course as the writer, I’ll have input as well (because isn’t that what you hired a writer for?). The key is to keep that line of communication open so that the work evolves in the best way possible.

Having majored in Creative Writing in college, one of the things that always stuck with me was the way my professors talked about voice–probably because most admitted it’s the one thing you can’t teach. It’s something a writer develops on her own, and you may not know how you get it, where you get it from, or even when you finally have it. You just write a whole lot and then one day you realize you have a style, a voice, that’s truly your own.

Funny thing is, with copywriting, that voice is still so important. Only it’s not about me anymore. It doesn’t matter what my voice is (the voice I use when I write this blog, or poetry, or fiction) because great copywriters listen to their client’s voice and bring it out in their writing. Each company has a unique personality, a unique set of values and a mission that’s going to align them with their audience. Even if they’re not writers, the voice is still there because their brand is. It’s my job to use that brand to shape the tone and style I use in my writing.

Now the other funny thing is this: Not all companies realize they have this voice, and writers often need to search for it and pull it out. Or sometimes a company might be fairly new, so the challenge is to find the voice in the first place. In both cases they’re a lot like that young creative writer. Both need to look at themselves and find a way to stand out in a crowded world full of product launches and authors. Voice is so important because when it seems like everyone else is trying to say or sell the same thing, a distinct voice reminds us that this product, this company, this service, is different. This is one that gets us and that we can trust. This is one people remember.

Think of a crowded room where everyone’s yelling at you. Even if you’re able to hear a message amidst the chaos, will you know where it’s coming from? What if, in the middle of all of that, one person came up and leaned in to tell you something in a calm, collected manner, completely differently from everyone else? Would you remember them then?

You know the Wingdings font, the one that turns your letters into tiny symbols like diamonds, squares, ampersands and mailboxes? Can you imagine if websites, government forms, and instruction manuals were written in Wingdings? No one would ever understand them. The text would simply take up space but tell us nothing in return.

The good news is that no one really uses Wingdings. The bad news is that there’s writing all around us that might as well be written in Zodiac signs instead of letters. A couple of examples that come to mind include a web page written in “corporatese” and a bank letter written in “legalese.” We’ve all seen the kind of writing I’m talking about. It’s packed full of jargon and loses us with needlessly long, confusing sentence structure. Instead of getting to the point, it tries to impress readers with buzz words. At its worst, it obscures the truth.

I like to call this kind of writing text. Sure, there are letters there, and most times complete sentences, but as a whole the words fail to say something for one of two reasons. 1)No one will actually read it. They may start to, but upon realizing the message is hidden somewhere under all those letters they’ll put their attention and efforts elsewhere. 2) The few people who do read it won’t absorb the message (this is not in any way an insult to the reader’s intelligence, by the way).

If you’re worried that your writing is turning into text, it may be time to hire a copywriter. Nathaniel Hawthorne once said, “Easy reading is damn hard writing,” and he was right.

Our world is full of complexities–a doctor’s world and realm of knowledge is completely different from that of a botanist or an engineer. The biggest challenge we face when trying to communicate is that everyone is coming from a different place.

There needs to be a common language, a point of reference that everyone can understand. With the right words and a good amount of research, a writer can build a bridge between a complex message and the audience it needs to reach.

The things my dog trainer says sometimes is just genius in its simplicity. A couple of months ago (yeah, it’s just hitting me now) he told me that I shouldn’t repeat a cue word to my dog if it’s not resulting in the desired behavior. So basically, if I’m telling my Boston terrier, Maggie, “down” because I want her to lie down, and all she’s doing is licking my hand because she smells treats, I shouldn’t keep saying “down.” Why? Well, that’s where the genius comes in.

The more you say a word without the desired result, the more it loses its meaning. What’s worse, the repetition can cause it to take on new meaning.

Like maybe Maggie will associate “down” with licking my hand. Or maybe a poorly written slogan will turn off customers instead of impressing them. Maybe a call to action that doesn’t compel someone to sign up for a newsletter will just get glazed over.

Why, then, for the love of paws, should we keep repeating these words if they’re not getting us results we want? Saying that they sound nice, or that they’re clever and funny, is never an excuse. Neither is the fact that they’re already on every pen, notepad, t-shirt and baseball cap in your company.

The beauty of language is that there are a million ways to say one thing, and each way you say it can yield different results. So don’t fear a rewrite of your website or sales copy, especially if the current copy isn’t working. Words are useless if they’re not doing what you need them to do. But if they’re the right words, they can be extremely powerful.

One of the most common mistakes I see on website copy is when the main headline says, “Welcome to our site!” I can definitely see the logic behind why someone would write this. After all, when someone visits your home in cyberspace it’s common to want to make them feel welcome there.

But here’s the thing. Welcome doesn’t cut it. Welcome is a lot like those mats that everyone has on their front door. Sure, visitors will read it, but then they’ll step right over it and wipe their feet on the word. So how do you really show someone they’re “welcome” when the word has lost its meaning?

Look beyond the word. Are you really trying to make someone feel welcome, or are you trying to make them feel like they’d want to stick around a bit? These are two very different things. You can tell guests staying at your home that they’re welcome to stay as long as they want and that you’re happy to have them any time. But if there’s no hot water, the beds are uncomfortable and they don’t have pillows, they probably won’t want to stay very long anyways.

So really, in your web copy, just as in a hotel or guesthouse, the best way to make visitors stick around is to show them what you have to offer. Switch that welcome mat out for a headline that tells them, right away, how your product or service can make their lives better. Show them the benefits of taking a look around. If visitors can’t quickly see the value of staying on your website, then that “welcome” might as well say “go away.”

For example, what would be more effective?

A veterinary website that says: Welcome to Our Clinic! or one that says: The city’s only 24-hour emergency clinic for small animal companions.

A restaurant site that says: Welcome to Tom’s! or one that says: Local organic food with an international flavor.

Of course, there’s always room for some creativity, too, but the message of what you’re offering should always come first. Show someone that you can make their lives a bit easier and the “welcome” will be implicit.

This is one of those posts that I wish I’d read somewhere else before I wrote it. Because really, before I started networking for my business I was a nervous wreck about it. Nevermind that as far back as high school, when I had to walk up to random students for a quote for the school yearbook, I was forced to push my shyness aside for the sake of writing. Nevermind that I continued doing so in college and then when I started writing for magazines.

When I shifted to copywriting, though, I realized I needed to learn to make better connections with business owners and people that needed my services. And sitting at my computer, hiding behind a screen wasn’t going to cut it.

After a lot of whining that I’m a writer! I’m much more put together on the page than I am in person! I realized I had an advantage. As writers, we have several tools that, if redirected, can make us great networkers:

1. We know how to build intrigue: That first line we write is the best shot we’ve got at capturing an audience. It doesn’t tell the whole story (why would anyone keep reading after that?) but it grabs a reader, hinting at what’s to come. The same is true for approaching someone while networking. When you craft your elevator pitch and introduction, focus on making it interesting. No need to blurt out everything you do as soon as you meet someone; just be interesting enough that they’ll want to learn more about you.

2. We know how to ask questions: My background is in journalism, and when I first started out, I was always surprised by how much people are willing to tell you about themselves. Everyone has a story, and everyone wants their story to be heard. As a writer, you get an ear for which questions to ask, so use this as you talk to the other networkers. Most people won’t want to talk with you if it’s a one-sided conversation, if you’re just trying to sell your services. Ask them questions and not only will they stick around, you’ll learn more about them and about how, specifically, you could help them. You’ll also connect on a more personal level rather than a business level, upping your chance that they’ll remember you after the event is over.

3. We know there’s always more than meets the eye: This kind of ties in with number two, but I think one of the reasons it’s easy to be intimidated by networking is that the room might be full of VP’s, EIC’s, CEOs…acronym after acronym. But beneath all those titles are just people. They have hobbies, families, favorite bands, and if you dig deep enough you’ll find some common ground, even if you’re in a completely different industry. Once you start looking at networking as a chance to meet new people, not business contacts, it all comes naturally, and it’s much more enjoyable for everyone.

4. We know how to get to the point: You know how when you finally sit down to write, you might only use a fraction of the research that you gathered? You focus in on the point of the story or copy and communicate it to readers. So let’s say you meet an editor from an agriculture magazine at a networking event, and you’ve written mostly for general interest pubs but in college you were a double major in Environmental Engineering and Communications. What are you going to focus in on when you tell that editor about yourself? Maybe not the piece you wrote for Glamour. Focus on how you can help others (instead of the other way around), and let them know in a clear and concise manner.

How about you? Have you found that your work skills help you in a network setting?

I came across a website this weekend that was clearly written with nothing other than SEO in mind. You know how I knew? I couldn’t stand to read it. It felt as if the words I used in my search had been plucked from the search tab and inserted into the web site’s copy in places where they didn’t even make sense.

I don’t mean to say that SEO isn’t worth considering when writing web copy; it’s just that it can’t be the only thing. It needs to be done in a way that’s balanced and that doesn’t lose track of the real audience: not the search engines, but potential buyers.

Having a website with repetitive, confusing SEO copy is like having a storefront in the hottest part of town. Maybe you’ll get lots of traffic and walk-ins, but if customers can’t find what they’re looking for once they step inside, they won’t stay around long. Why sift through disorganized clothing racks (or sloppy copy) when you can just go next door?

I like to think of good web copy as both SEO and reader-friendly. The copy might attract bots to crawl your site and help its search engine rankings, but it needs to keep the visitors. At the end of the day, bots don’t buy. Visitors (who find what they’re looking for) do.